switched off? no. that breaks the circuit, no power, no usage. it’s basically the same as unplugging it from the wall.
if nothing is connected to them, many surge protectors have a small indicator light that shows the surge protector is on. that’s about the only power use being used if nothing is plugged in and drawing power.
you might be confusing turning the surge protector off itself, vs the devices it’s connected to- many of which will rather enter a standby mode which still draws some power. (for example, microwave ovens will draw some power continuously so that they’re always ready, even if they’re not always drawing enough power to cook food.)
A surge protector (and the outlet it’s plugged into,) will only draw enough power to meet it’s demand; even if the supplied power is potentially greater- for example, computer power supplies. A PC with a 60w power supply will operate quite happily with a 120w power supply.
Well, you can keep doing it that way, if you want. It’s still a good idea if you get surges during storms or something; mind. for both the protector and whatever its protecting. but as far as power usage goes, yeah, you can just flip the switch.
As I type this it actually is thundering and raining torrentially here in the PNW- and I live in one of the tallest apartment buildings in my neighborhood
Surely you thought of this, but a lot of surge protectors have (used to have?) a battery backup for short outages. Keeps the PC on so you can save your data.
Those are not surge protectors, but uninterruptible power supplies- most of which will have a surge protection circuit, mind.
Edit: for comparison, this is a UPS:
It weighs 5 pounds, and is about the size of a shoe box. The batteries don’t provide surge protection- instead those use a circuit to effectively trickle charge and maintain the battery. If normal power is lost, that circuit flips over to discharging the battery.
Ah I was aware they made surge protectors without battery backup, but I wrongly thought they were both just ‘surge protectors’ and wondered if OP somehow left out that his had a battery backup.
switched off? no. that breaks the circuit, no power, no usage. it’s basically the same as unplugging it from the wall. if nothing is connected to them, many surge protectors have a small indicator light that shows the surge protector is on. that’s about the only power use being used if nothing is plugged in and drawing power.
you might be confusing turning the surge protector off itself, vs the devices it’s connected to- many of which will rather enter a standby mode which still draws some power. (for example, microwave ovens will draw some power continuously so that they’re always ready, even if they’re not always drawing enough power to cook food.)
A surge protector (and the outlet it’s plugged into,) will only draw enough power to meet it’s demand; even if the supplied power is potentially greater- for example, computer power supplies. A PC with a 60w power supply will operate quite happily with a 120w power supply.
That’s good to know, so I actually don’t need to physically unplug the power strip to trim down the bill. I’ve been doing it wrong for a while
Well, you can keep doing it that way, if you want. It’s still a good idea if you get surges during storms or something; mind. for both the protector and whatever its protecting. but as far as power usage goes, yeah, you can just flip the switch.
As I type this it actually is thundering and raining torrentially here in the PNW- and I live in one of the tallest apartment buildings in my neighborhood
Probably fine. Cities are usually very well protected; including at the circuit breakers
In any case… stay safe!
Surely you thought of this, but a lot of surge protectors have (used to have?) a battery backup for short outages. Keeps the PC on so you can save your data.
Those are not surge protectors, but uninterruptible power supplies- most of which will have a surge protection circuit, mind.
Edit: for comparison, this is a UPS:
It weighs 5 pounds, and is about the size of a shoe box. The batteries don’t provide surge protection- instead those use a circuit to effectively trickle charge and maintain the battery. If normal power is lost, that circuit flips over to discharging the battery.
Ah I was aware they made surge protectors without battery backup, but I wrongly thought they were both just ‘surge protectors’ and wondered if OP somehow left out that his had a battery backup.